“Look, we continue to talk. There are some issues that are outstanding that are left to resolve. And I know there’s been a lot of questions about what happens if the players–or the process of becoming a union again. Look, we visited every team, some four times over the last two years. The decision by the players to decertify as a union was a significant one. And I think most of you remember my never-ending road trip where we went to, by team, to talk about the issues of decertification.

“I know that from yesterday that the issues for every player about recertification as a union is going to be an important issue. Here in America, every time an employee makes that decision about whether he wants to be a part of a union, it’s something that is serious, significant, and should be done in a very sober way.

“I know there’s a lot of questions swirling around, and I know from watching the folks at the NFL Network, that they’ve become experts on the recertification issue, let me tell you: Every individual person has to make a decision about whether they want to be a part of a union. And recommendations made by the executive committee as the advisers to the class, or the board of directors as advisers to the class are just that. But the individual decisions are something that our players take extremely serious.

“So I came down here just to deliver that because I know that there’s a lot of things swirling out there, and I certainly remember a comment from some of the owners about how we might not even be like a real union. Well, guess what?

“The decision to decertify was important because at the time we were a real union. And the decision for our players, as men, to come back as a union, is going to be a equally serious and very sober one they have to make.”